Column - Jon Mark Beilue: To help out, just pick up a phone

It's a moral question we all face periodically. Should we give a dollar to a panhandler or someone who's looking for bus fare out of town? Do we give a handout, or turn away? How do you handle requests for money, food or even a ride someplace? Think you have the answer? We want to hear a brief explanation from you.

As he crossed 10th Avenue and Van Buren Street last week, a man, maybe 30, in worn clothes, short beard, cast on his left arm and Texas Tech gimme cap, tried to get my attention. I had just pulled out on the intersection, headed to an appointment. What? I mouthed.

He came over to my window, so what the heck, I rolled it down. He needed $4 for pain medication and had a piece of paper that might have been a prescription. His arm was hurting, he said, because he had been jumped near the bus station. I only had a $10 bill, so I said I couldn't.

What about a ride to Wal-Mart then? Sorry, I'd like to help, but I'm late. I'd already sat through one green light with no one behind me.

"That's OK, man," he said and his face started to well up. He then went across the street, slumped to the sidewalk and buried his head in his hands. As I shot along 10th, I wondered if I handled that right. Could I have helped, or would it have been simply enabling? Was it a con - was he hooked on hydrocodone? - or did he really have a serious need?

Most of us have been there. It's not the guy at the intersection with the cardboard sign and dog. It's the one in the parking lot, at the door of the convenience store, the quick verbal encounter. There's a few fleeting seconds to make some kind of decision. What do you do? Anything?

"You make us do our job," said Major Tim Grider of the Salvation Army. "Let us deal with that. We do it on a day-to-day basis, and it's important to let those of us who work with the homeless and those in need do our job.

"I tell everyone the same thing forever and ever and ever - it's real simple - especially downtown, you have shelters that are manned for a reason. If they are in that need of attention, all they have to do is come to one of the shelters and check in."

Gee, that sounds simple. And maybe it is. Amarillo has all kinds of agencies and outreaches, especially downtown, where most of the homeless gather, to help those like the guy with the cast. Faith City Mission. The Guyon Saunders Resource Center, formerly the Tyler Street Resource Center. The Salvation Army. City of Refuge. Downtown Women's Center Thrift City.

"Amarillo is very good to the homeless, comparatively speaking," said Jena Taylor, executive director of Faith City Mission. "What I would do in any situation like this is call Faith City. Tell them, 'I can't help you, but I know someone who can.' We'll be glad to do that. A lot are mentally ill, either mentally ill because of drugs or just mentally ill. Sometimes they don't have the best judgment."

Not all the homeless are alike. There are those rooted in problems, some they created, some they didn't. There are alcohol and drug problems. And some are playing the game, but how many and how do you know?

"Boy, that's the $1 million question," Grider said. "Schemes can be high and mighty, and the worse the economy, the worse it is. America is an extremely generous society, almost to the point of fault. Discernment has to go with generosity. Not to sound like a broken record, but send those folks to us and make us do our job."

Let your conscience be your guide on giving money, but it's almost unanimous on that issue. Don't. Nearly every agency can provide any basic need that pocket money requires, from medication to food, clothing, a bus ticket somewhere. But even professionals don't hand over money, so why should the public?

"That's a hard and fast rule. We don't give them cash ever," Taylor said. "It protects them and us. We don't encourage anyone to give them money, because it may end up harming them in the long run."

Put the Faith City number in your cell phone, (806-373-6402), especially for those working downtown. If someone asks for a ride or money, call.

"Two old burly boys of ours will be there in a van pretty quick if they really want help," Taylor said.

If they don't want shelter help, Grider said, that's a pretty good indication of their sincerity, or lack of.

The best response is to direct or suggest. Or make a cell call. That kind of help is the most logical of all. And it doesn't leave you wondering if you did the right thing.

Jon Mark Beilue's column appears Sunday, Wednesday and Friday. He can be reached at jon.beilue@amarillo.com or 806-345-3318. His blog appears on amarillo.com.